Downtown Indianapolis

Soldier's & Sailor's Monument

By Saturday, June 21, the Red Cross has fulfilled their sheltering and the need for feeding had been reduced to a level that could be handled by catering companies. Since our 24 hour operations had ceased, our directors decided that headquarters could be unstaffed on Sunday, so we got an unexpected day off. Actually, we were on standby from 11:00 until 2:00, but nobody called.

After 2:00, a group of us decided to wander around downtown, then see a movie and dine out. The city's big sight in the middle of downtown is the Soldiers and Sailors Monument on Meridian Street. The monument is surrounded by a large circle, decorated with statues and wonderful old streetlights. The buildings that face the monument bow in respect by having curved facades, so that the circle reaches from the monument into the downtown face, the city pauses here to acknowledge those who gave their lives. Each of the 4 sides of the monument is inscribed with the wars fought by those honored.

One of the statues

The tower itself is 284.5 feet to the observation deck. While a small elevator toils back and forth for a $1 fee, stairs surround the elevator shaft and can be climbed for free. Since I deferred gaining knowledge of the height until I descended, I happily began climbing the stairs for the top. About halfway up, with no end in sight, I began to be far more curious about the height. I stopped a few times, but made it to the top in due time, soaked in sweat in the warm early summer afternoon. The view was partially obstructed by dirty windows, but worth the climb none the less.

Only now, late in the next day, do I realize the growing pain of my body's reaction to climbing up and down a 24 story building. My thighs and calves are beginning that sore, sore sensation which makes me give pause to moving at all.

Dance crazy teens

After my exercise, I wandered back to the Simon Mall, and found these energetic teenagers working some sort of machine that looked like a cross between Twister, Tetris, and Galaxy Quest, on which they danced crazily trying to keep up with a scrolling screen displaying foot patterns on a floor filled with tap touch sensitive pads. The longer they danced, the faster the screen scrolled. And the two of them were in sync, for the most part. I was reminded of the Irish step dancers.

A short while later, we saw the latest Indy Jones flick, paying homage to the state in which we are now serving. In this sequel-sequel, the actors seem to have aged faster than we have, but are as energetic as when they started. We marveled at the incredible supply of dry matches they kept through raging rivers and icy wells.

Later we dined at PJ Chang's, an upscale Chinese Bistro which had excellent food and service, at a fairly reasonable price.

Consuelo stayed home through all this, catching up on her reading, and getting our laundry done. I favored her with half of my dinner, cold but delicious, for which she was grateful.

And tomorrow, I'll see if I can walk.